Karen Coiffi-Ventrice

Reviewer Karen Coiffi-Ventrice: Karen is a published author and
freelance writer. She co-moderates a children’s writing critique
group, and created and manages a Yahoo authors’ marketing group.
Karen is also on the team of DKV Writing 4 U and a member of the
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illlustrators (SCBWI).

Elephants in The Exam Room is a powerful book. The author,
Dr. Wayne Liebhard, picks apart the American health care system and
shows why we are in a health care crisis and what needs to be done
about it.

Liebhard’s main point is that the American health care
system is not clearly defined. He explains empathically, that we have
quality care, but the system in which the care is delivered is
faulty; in fact, it’s crumbling right under our feet.

With government trying to take control, Liebhard warns against a
government controlled health system that promises coverage for all.
He focuses on Canada’s health care system where getting
prompt medical attention within the system is problematic. And, it is
very difficult, if not impossible, to find medical care outside
the “restrictive government system” even if the individual wants
to spend his own money. Speaking as a middle-aged American with more
than one serious health issue, this is a frightening
scenario.

1. “According to the World Health Organization (WHO),
the U.S. ranks as the thirty-seventh healthiest nation in
the world—this despite the fact that, on average, we spend twice as
much per person on healthcare as other industrialized nations and
consume one-third of the world’s prescription drugs.”

2. The insurance companies are creating guidelines and
systems that doctors have to follow in order to get paid. Along
with this, doctors have to work longer and longer hours to see enough
patients just to make a living. Many physicians are leaving family
practice, and the new generation of doctors aren’t filling the
gaps.

3. In 2005, CEOs of insurance companies “took home eleven
million dollars on average.” One executive mentioned took home $124
million in one year. Administrative costs are 40% of total
health care spending.

4. Americans, as a group, want health care to be a right,
meaning the government should provide for it. (They had better
look at Canada or Briton’s system first, or even the
government controlled Veterans medical facilities in the U.S.) And,
it is estimated that 15% of those covered by a “universal health
coverage” will not be legal American citizens.

5. “In a regular market, the consumer seeks a good or
service and is informed of its full cost, and then determines whether
he or she is willing to pay that price. In a co-pay world, there is a
complete disconnect between cost and price reality.”

6. “[. . .] the top ten pharmaceutical companies make more
than the rest of the Fortune 500 companies combined.”

While these are just some of the problems our health care system
faces, there are many other issues discussed in Elephants in The
Exam Room, and each one is thoroughly examined with a
number of startling statistics.

What I found extraordinary about this book is that Liebhard
not only candidly exposes the problems within America’s
health care system, but he also offers realistic and
practical solutions. I hope every American reads this book and
voices their concern, even outrage, at what’s going on.